Options abound at Ballroom

Mike Ashcraft

Spring job fair to assist students in their search for jobs

Spring brings the occasional nice weather back to Kent State and signals that the end of the school year is fast approaching.

For upperclassmen, this also signals that the time to begin their careers is looming on the horizon as well.

The Kent State Career Services Center hopes to jumpstart the job search for students by holding its Spring Job and Internship Fair from noon to 4 p.m. today in the Kent State Ballroom.

More than 100 organizations will be on hand to scout for potential employees at the Student Center.

“There’s going to be a very wide variety of employers attending the event,” said Robin Piatt, Career Services assistant director of on-campus recruiting and employer relations. “There’s going to be financial institutions there from the retail-marketing side, and there’s also going to be some non-profit organizations there.”

According to its 2008 spring job outlook, the National Association of Colleges and Employers reported that employers expect to hire 8 percent more graduates from this year’s class than last year.

NACE also found that recruiters say the students who most impressed them at career fairs are those who demonstrate a familiarity with the organization, have intelligent questions to ask and have thought about the way they might fit into the organization.

“It’s a little bit more than saying, ‘Oh, Bank of America is coming, I want to talk to them,'” Piatt said. “Students should find out what Bank of America does, what positions they are hiring for, how can I fit into that and what can I bring to the table and offer to them.”

Students can find more information about the Career Fair at Career Services’ homepage, http://career.kent.edu.

Contact Career Services reporter Mike Ashcraft at [email protected].